Karma

While I like to think I have some control over my life, I can't help but think I'm getting punished/rewarded for something I did, because a lot of drastic things have happened in the past 3 weeks. The first was the great flood of 2007 in my apartment. I still don't have a working kitchen or front room, which basically sucks. I'm a prisoner in my own bedroom. Then, I take the LSAT, and of course they have to make the Reading Comp. section like, twice as hard (it's my strongest section, so it was pretty mad). Then I'm basically living at work because of this huge filing (we're talking working until 12:45am).

Then, I get engaged, and just when things are looking up, I get a flat tire. While it wasn't the end of the world, (I got it fixed for $30) it really made me wonder if all the bad stuff was some kind of punishment. Then today, I got my first law school response, from Santa Clara, and I got in (with a scholarship!).

So now I figure either something bad is bound to happen in the next 48 hours or my weird streak of events is coming to an end. Wish me luck!

(...or not)

Surprise!

I had quite the eventful weekend! I flew to Orange County on Saturday morning for Curtis' company party and we got engaged! After a bumpy flight and a trip to the nail salon, I arrived home to see a layout of handwritten cards from him. After 6 notes (and gifts!), distributed between my mom's car, my house,


and his house,



the last note had a Disneyland ticket inside and said to meet him in front of the castle! My family drove me to "the happiest place on earth" and the rest was history.


When I arrived at D-land I had to wait for the parade to end so I could get to the castle, and it started raining. Luckily he brought an umbrella. It was nice having it though because it gave us a little privacy. No one could tell what was happening until he got on one knee and presented me with this:


After he proposed (and I said yes!), we made our way out of the park (Curtis said that we'll remember it as the time we went to Disneyland and didn't ride anything!), and while waiting for the monorail he took a picture of the ring on my finger :-)
We drove home and hung out with my parents for awhile and then got dressed and went to his company party (and introduced me as his fiance!).

The next day, my parents, my brother, Curtis and I decorated the tree, and as per tradition we took turns getting our pictures taken putting the angel on top. This is our first picture of us doing that together.

I'm also working on our wedding site on http://www.theknot.com/ - www.theknot.com/ourwedding/christineharding&curtishart and hope to have that finished soon. Since our wedding isn't until Summer 2009, that site will stay pretty vague until we send out our save-the-dates (sometime during Summer 2008), but if you're like me and love to read wedding blogs, I will probably write about the planning process on this site. I hope you enjoyed the story!

Day After Vacation

I'm back at work after a 5-day Thanksgiving weekend. I was fortunate enough to see a bunch of family that I don't typically see, including 2 aunts & 3 cousins who live outside of CA (well, technically one is a Frosh as Cal Poly, so she's now only a few hours away!) My cousin Courtney and I had a ton of fun staying up on Thursday night planning our Vegas trip and eating leftovers (in our defense, we just watched The Birds for the first time and were a little freaked out)

We went to D-Land on Wednesday (I was sad that the anniversary show was gone); we did the thanksgiving thing on Thursday and Friday (sadly I'm growing weary of stuffing); Curtis and I went out to dinner and then shopping on Saturday (El Torito Grill in Mission Viejo); and Sunday some family friends came over for dinner, and I went to Curtis' house to see his mom before I came back (plus i took a nap!)

Now it's back to reality, I have a lot of work at work the next few weeks, but there are personal events to look forward to. I'm re-taking the LSAT & going to Big Game (Stanford-Cal football) on Saturday, there are a few Stanford basketball games coming up, I'm extremely close to being done w/ my applications (5 down, 6 to go!), and I'm flying back to MV on Dec. 8 for Curtis' company holiday party. Plus, I'm getting my bonus on the 15th and Christmas is coming, which is always fun. Plus, I'm finally going to try and get back on a workout routine, becuase I think that will keep me sane in the coming weeks. If I can balance that with work and a TV schedule (which will soon disappear if the writers continue to strike), I'll be in good shape.

Update

I applied to 2 law schools last Saturday, Santa Clara & Loyola. They were good test balloons to make sure I had the process down.

I attended a law school conference at Stanford yesterday and talked with admissions representatives. I added a new school to my applications, American University in Washington, D.C. Every time I mention an new potential law school outside of CA my family (and Curtis) gets nervous. However I'm still focusing on CA law schools and I hope to finish my main applications this weekend.

My list as of now is:
Loyola (done)
Santa Clara (done)
Pepperdine (I had a bad experience with the recruiter yesterday so I'm rethinking this application)
UCLA
Davis
USC
Stanford
Georgetown
George Washington
American
Arizona (got a fee waiver so I'm applying)
Washington (Seattle)

I'm also looking at Penn & Iowa, but I'm not too excited about their locations.

In other news, I'm coming to Mission Viejo for Thanksgiving! I'm home on Tuesday night and will be in town until Monday morning. I'm very excited =)

a very Stanford weekend

Look for me at Stanford this weekend:

Friday - 7PM Stanford Men's Basketball v. Harvard

Saturday - 3:30PM Watching Stanford Football v. Wazzu (FSNBA)
7:00PM Stanford Men's Basketball v. Northwestern State

Sunday - 3PM Stanford Mens Basketball v. UCSB (FSNBA)

Good luck guys, Lets go Card!

The Earth Shook

So many things happened today, one after another trying to steal the spotlight!

1. The heel of my shoe broke, randomly, at 2pm, so since then I had no shoes to wear at work.

2. We had an earthquake, 5.6, and I was still at work (worked until 9pm tonight) so that was fun.

3. (and most important) I GOT MY SEASON BASKETBALL TICKETS!!!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!

all right, gtg, have to be at work at 7am (I've been working on avg. 9-11 hrs/day the past 2 weeks)

-c

Dancing with Myself

After watching Dancing with the Stars tonight, I really wanted to start ballroom dancing.

I think my favorite dances are the Samba, the Mambo, and the Jive.

Now I just need a partner =)


In other news, my weekend of housesitting has come to an end. At first Sophie (the dog) was really hesitant to interact with me and kept to herself. Then, when I offered to take her for a walk, she got really excited. We had a good time walking around the block, although I had to pull on the leash a lot. But when we got back we played even more and she decided to hang out with me. So I was really happy that she warmed up to me and we even cuddled on the couch while watching Desperate Housewives. I was sad that I had to leave her this morning.

This week is once again, busy, as there is a ton of stuff to do and only one of me, but wish me luck!

~Christine

Weekend Plans

When I came back from SoCal on Monday, I thought, well, at least this next weekend should be quiet!

Except that I had forgotten that I was going to be house/ferret/dog sitting this weekend.

This was actually a blessing in disguise, for several reasons:
1. I love getting out of town on weekends, its a huge stress reliever, and it makes the weekend feel longer
2. It gives me something to do, as I hate being bored.
3. I get to play with animals, which is something I love to do but don't have animals of my own.
4. Being stuck in Santa Clara over Sunday will help me chill out and work on my personal statement.

However, there are (as always) downsides:
1. I think I am getting sick, and it sucks when you can't sleep in your own bed when you're sick
2. Because I think I'm getting sick and am allergic to fur, I have to bring a ton of medication with me to control the symptoms
3. I can't go out on Saturday night because I have to get to Santa Clara at a reasonable hour. (but since I'm feeling sick, I probably wouldn't feel like being out until 5:30am anyway)

I've looked after the ferret before (his name is Simba :-) so I'm looking forward to seeing him, he's really fun to hang out with and he has his own room that he can play in. I just met the dog last night, and she's so fun, I'm excited to see her tomorrow! Plus the house is nice so it'll be like a mini vacation for one.

Other plans include listening to the Stanford-Oregon State game on the radio, and possibly attending the Stanford Men's basketball scrimmage tomorrow at 1pm. Tonight I need to gather up some energy to do laundry and tidy up my room, because it's really getting out of hand =).

Have a good weekend! ~Christine

Under Fire...

Here is blog #2!

First, I want to mention the fires that are happening in SoCal. My parents live about 10 mi from the Orange County fire, so I'm a mildly nervous, not necessarily about the fire, but about the accompanying poor air quality and electrical outages. It is supposed to get up to about 95 degrees inland, so I'm praying that their power stays on, otherwise they have no way to stay cool and fiter the dust out of the air.

Second, quick law school update: I attended a law school panel last week with Stanford, NYU, Cornell and Duke. I felt better about applying to Stanford and not so good about applying to Duke. A similar thing happened when applying to undergrad: I met with a Yale recruiter and was instantly convinced that I was interested so I applied (and didn't get in, which was probably for the best anyway since Stanford was the school for me, but I digress). I heard a Harvard recuiter speak and was extremely turned up by his elitist perspective, so I didn't apply there, a decision which I have never regretted. Tomorrow I am attending a teleconference with the Georgetown dean of admissions, so I'm excited about that.

I am finalizing my first draft of the personal statement, I'm taking it in a slightly different direction so it's taking some effort and thought. Once that is done I will feel comfortable about asking for recommendations. So, the end is near! I hope to have a lot done before November (which i realize is next week) so I can study for the LSAT which is December 1.

On the sports side, I just applied for my Stanford Mens' Basketball season ticket, and I'm very excited for the pre-season to kick off! We have a home football game this weekend, which means another crazy Saturday!

Personally, I just spent last weekend at home, which was very needed for my emotional health. I've been very overwhelmed with work and law school applications and I needed to get out of town to feel good about everything again. Curtis and I got to spend a lot of time together which was nice, and I also got to hang out with the fam a lot, and I even saw my grandparents, an aunt and a cousin! The next time I will be there is Thanksgiving and then Christmas, but I hope to see my man sooner than that (hint hint honey).

Finally, I'd like to give a shout out to my best friend, Adelyn, she ran a 50 mile race a few a week ago! If you're interested in running, ultra running or just reading about running, read her blog: http://addygrl.blogspot.com. I think she's busier than I am, between school, student teaching and running, yet she is a very good and diligent blogger (much better than me, then again her blog topic is much more interesting than mine).

That's all for now! ~Christine

PS If you're like me and like to read up on what old friends are up to, please don't hesitate to shoot me a message (email/facebook/im) and let me know what's going on your life! Seriously, I'm curious =).

My new Blog

I was tired of Christine's Revenge, but I want to at least maintain a blog so that people can know what I'm up to. So here's my first post.

It's Homecoming weekend, which is exciting because a bunch of my friends are coming back to town for the weekend. Stanford is playing Texas Christian University, and Tavita Prichard the quarterback who played against USC when we upset them is playing.

Stanford Football has taken up my weekends, and lately I've been working 45-45 hour weeks so I don't get a lot of free time, but I am applying to law school; here is my "list":

For Sure Applying:
UCLA, USC, Pepperdine, Loyola

Probably Applying:
Georgetown, Stanford, George Washington, Arizona, Iowa, Duke

Might Apply:
Washington, Santa Clara, Berkeley, Davis, USD, Texas

I'm currently at the stage where I'm filling out the applications and working on my statements. That's part of the reason I'm taking a day off next week and going to Mission Viejo for ht weekend.

I'm also retaking the LSAT on December 1st, mostly becuase I didn't perform to my potential the first time because I hadn't slept and was in the middle of finals/finding a job/finding and apartment/graduating. So I'm doing a lot of practice questions in preparation.

Work is....busy. Granted that's what I always say, but lately it's been tough. We have these huge filings which consume my life, last weekend was the first weekend in 3 weeks that I didn't have to work. I was able to attend a hearing on Wednesday on "Class Certification" which is a really important step for class action cases. But I'm still enjoying my work, it's very interesting and will definitely prepare me to be a good lawyer once I'm done with school. With that said, I am very burnt out on work, so yesterday I decided that a trip out of town might raise my spirits. So I put in for the time, got my flight, and I'm coming to Mission Viejo next Thursday evening and will be there until Monday morning. I already have some plans - Curtis is taking me out on Friday night, there's some family stuff on Saturday and I want to go to church on Sunday, but overall I think it will be a relaxing visit and a good opporunity to have some quiet time on Friday while everyone is gone at work/school to work on my applications.

Anyway, that's the jist of my life, and I hope I will be able to post more about what's going on soon!

~Christine